CHAPTER NINE – WHERE THE SLIME LIVE
"Usagi, please pay attention."
"Uh, yes, Professor, uh, H."
Usagi fought to keep her attention on the lecture at hand, but as always, her mind was slipping. It didn't help that one of her best friends was in danger and she could do nothing about it for being stuck in school. She knew that she had to keep her responsibilities as a regular human being, but…God, it just ached her so feeling so human.
She had a pleasant vision about transforming into Sailor Moon on the spot just so she could escape outside into the sunshine. Usagi had just gotten into an amusing little part that involved her "accidentally" using her tiara to destroy the indecipherable chalkboard in front of her when a sharp pencil poke stirred her.
"Miss Tsukino, I'm going to assume you're tired because you were up late reading your textbook," said the professor.
"Uh…yes, hehe, you got me there," Usagi replied brightly. She opened her notebook and began to muse about what had happened over the last couple of days. Uncapping her blue pen, she began to think about something that was actually useful.
She wrote down in the upper left corner, "Lucretius" and stared at it. He seemed a little different from the run-of-the-mill Negaverse villain the Senshi were accustomed to. He seemed reluctant to challenge the Senshi in the open, as if he preferred to operate in the shadows to break them that way. Ami had had the right idea about him attacking their trust. A blue arrow was drawn down the page from Lucretius' name, the words "attacks trust to get…" appearing alongside it.
At the end of the arrow, she wrote down Lucretius' objective, "Imperial Silver Crystal." She shook her head gently. It was almost comical how much every single enemy wanted what was in her locket. It was almost a rule of thumb: "Give me the Imperial Silver Crystal or [fill in terrible thing here happens]." The Senshi had come to expect almost nothing else. The next enemy they met who wasn't after her crystal in some way or another would be the first.
Usagi's hand paused halfway towards her next scribble. What if Lucretius wasn't after the Crystal but something else? Sure, he had told them so over the phone that he wanted it. It looked as if he was just holding Minako as ransom to get the Crystal from her. But somehow it now seemed…too simple, too easy. What if he was bluffing? If so, why? What was he really after?
A couple of minutes of thought later, Usagi slowly added a question mark: "Imperial Silver Crystal?" From what she could gather, most of their enemies had simply wanted to crystal so they could destroy it, believing that if they did so the light would be weakened enough that the darkness could overpower it. What else would they want it for?
She shook her head again. This was more Ami's game than hers.
She turned to the right half of the page and wrote down two names "Tuxedo Kamen" and "Matt Sneider," with an obligatory heart next to the first one.
Yes, Darien was returning to Tokyo from Singapore tomorrow afternoon, and not a moment too soon. But he would understand that the Senshi needed his help. He couldn't expect a quiet vacation when he was involved with them, could he? He knew that.
And Sneider was…well, he was off to a good start, she supposed. She really didn't know exactly what to make of him.
Usagi smiled. It would be interesting having more than one guy on their team for a change.
Her phone buzzed, a text from Rei. Usagi frowned as she reached into her messenger bag to read it: "We have till midnight tomorrow night or Mina's toast."
Minutes earlier, Rei was startled to hear her phone ring while she walked the hallway of her school. It never rang except for emergencies. Not recognizing the number, she stepped outside into her school's courtyard and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Am I speaking with either Sailor Mars or, barring that, Rei Hino, in the flesh?" came a deep voice from the other end. She froze.
"Excuse me?"
She heard the faint sound of scuffling and sounds of protest and thought she could make out an angry voice saying, "Give me the phone, you idiot." Then, "Hello, Sailor Mars. This is your friend Lucretius. This call is being monitored for quality assurance."
Rei narrowed her eyes. This character was driving her up the wall. "What do you want?" she demanded. "You know I'm at school right now, right?"
"Oh forgive me Sailor Mars, but I assumed Ami was the one in your group who cared about school," said Lucretius. "In that case, I must have the wrong number."
"No, you don't. How the hell did you get this number anyway?"
"Fear not; I have no interest in stalking you. Although, something tells me you might get a thrill out of that sort of thing…ah, there's nothing like the sexually repressed craziness. It's so…" Rei cringed as Lucretius let out a low, lustful growl, "…fiery, if I may be permitted the expression. But I digress. The cliff notes version of this quality-assured phone call is that your friend the Senshi of Love has until midnight tomorrow night to live."
Rei shut her eyes and breathed deeply. "He's playing some kind of game with you, Mars," she told herself. "Don't give in."
"Unless…?" she asked.
"Ah, I'm glad you read my mind and saw there was a caveat," said Lucretius delightedly. "I've never witnessed this incredible thing you humans have called a 'party vessel' that floats on water before."
"You mean a boat?" Rei snarled.
"Yes yes, one of those," Lucretius replied. "So naturally, I've decided to slaughter two souls with one knife and decided to bring Sailor Venus onto one of those boats for safekeeping. This way I have an excuse to take over the vessel with plenty of innocent partygoers on it, forcing you into delivering the Imperial Silver Crystal knowing that you will put those people at risk if you try anything cute. Coincidentally, I've already made plans to do that tomorrow evening in Tokyo Harbor at around 10pm for a late-night cruise. The ship's name is the Kan. You will have until midnight to bring me the Imperial Silver Crystal—fully intact and functional—or I will send Sailor Venus bound and gagged to the bottom of the bay."
"You know what I think?" Rei snapped. "I think you can go fuck yourself. I think you're bluffing. You want us to be on a boat, a contained environment, where you'll have the advantage and you can pull a fast one on us. Doesn't sound like a trap at all. How stupid do you think we are?"
"YOU ARE ON THAT SHIP TOMORROW NIGHT OR YOU CAN SEARCH FOR SAILOR VENUS' BODY AMONG THE SUICIDES AT AOKIGOHARA FOREST," Lucretius roared, his humorous demeanor totally gone.
"And that's the situation," the Senshi of Fire told her friends that night, when they had all gathered at the Temple. "He's saying we have no choice, and he's going to be prepared if we try anything obvious. There are going to be innocent people involved, and we can't try to warn them or anything, or he'll know we're up to something. By the stars, I need a drink," she finished, kneeling down at her table as the other Senshi looked on. She left the room and returned with a half-full bottle of sake and a few glasses. "How are we going to plan this?" she asked as she started pouring.
Makoto accepted a glass and said, "This is definitely going to be difficult."
Just then, there was a scuffling and a rattle at the sliding door entrance to the room. A grunt and a muttered curse about Japanese architecture filtered in.
Rei closed her eyes slowly. "It's a sliding door, Matt," she called out.
The analyst carefully slid open the door and dragged himself in, looking pale and harassed. He collapsed into one of the sofas and eyed Rei's bottle. "Is that liquor?" he asked.
"Yes. I made it."
"Is it strong?"
"Kind of."
"Give me a glass."
The Senshi of Fire passed him one and watched as he downed it with a grimace. "That's fucking putrid," he observed after a few seconds of silence. He paused. "Give me another one."
"Here, take mine," Ami offered, having only taken a sip and wanting to keep her head clear.
Warmth spread through Matt's stomach as he slowly drained his second glass of sake. "Somebody had a long day at work," Makoto joked. Matt shut his eyes and groaned.
"So, about this situation we're in," Ami said, bringing the group back to its topic. "We must figure out how to rescue Mina without harming the innocent people or surrendering the Imperial Silver Crystal, all while on a fixed, contained environment that will limit the use of our powers. Let's figure out our options."
"Why don't we just ask for the guy in the mask and smoke the bastard?" Makoto asked after a long drink.
"Then we won't be able to find Mina," Ami pointed out. "Only Lucretius probably knows, and he isn't going to tell his underlings so we can't force it out of them. And bluffing isn't going to work either, for the obvious reason that we've tried it already."
"I think what needs to happen first is get all the innocent people off the boat," Usagi put in. "So he can't use them as cover."
"Someone shout 'fire', and make them all evacuate," Makoto offered. "And if necessary, we can start one." She looked pointedly at Rei. "Whoever stays is a bad guy."
"Hmm," said Rei thoughtfully, swirling her sake jerkily. "But if we do that, Lucretius will know what we're doing, and he might hurt Mina. I don't want that."
"So we make sure Mina is safe before we evacuate the boat," said Usagi.
"But how do we do that without confronting Lucretius first and putting folks in danger?" Makoto asked the million-dollar question. There was silence as the Senshi realized they were back at square one.
"Just fyi, I can't make it to this thing," Matt muttered sleepily from his chair. The girls all turned to him with exclamations of surprise.
"Why not?" Usagi asked gently.
"I know this is, like, in total violation of our contract for peace and love and all that, but I can't go; I can't get off work tomorrow night. I'm gonna have to sleep in the office again, I just know it."
"What? Can't you take the night off or something?" Rei demanded.
"I can't, Rei! This is investment banking. It's a miracle I still have this job as it is with all the time I've been missing, hanging out with you guys. There's a huge pitchbook due on Saturday morning, and there's no way we're getting out of there before dawn."
"Sailor Venus' life is in danger!" Rei snapped.
"The client doesn't care. The client wants his pitchbook. And we have to do it, dammit. FUCK!" he exploded, throwing his glass against the wall and shattering it.
There was a tense pause as Matt buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry, guys; I can't help you," he mumbled. "I can't help you."
To everyone's surprise, Ami rose and went over to him. The blue-haired girl gently took his hands and pulled them away from his face. "Matt," she said. "I know how we can get you out of there. Remember what we talked about in the jail cell, that investment banking is a client-facing business and everything has to be done for them?"
The analyst slowly nodded.
"You could only get out of the office if you were doing something that would further the reputation of the bank, right? Meaning, it would have to be something very important relating to a client."
"Go on."
"So, presumably…if we all showed up and said we were clients, and made it seem as if we had a whole lot of capital and were interested in using the bank's services…and wanted to meet with you, and you only…you could get out of there and come with us."
Matt stared at her and slowly grinned. "I think that could work," he breathed, eyes wide. In his (slightly buzzed) state, he did something he didn't normally do, which was give her a kiss on the cheek and said, "You're a genius."
"Aww," Usagi said, breaking the tension. Ami blushed furiously.
"So, we basically say we're there to see you, act really important, and pretend we have a ton of cash?" Makoto asked.
"Something like that, I guess," said Matt as Ami returned to her seat, not making eye contact with him for the rest of the night. "You can never act too pompous," he added. "I'll be in a suit too, so the dinner cruise thing will work out."
"OOOHH!" Usagi squealed with delight. "Do we get to dress up since we're going on the cruise? I LOVE DRESSING UP! Oooh, and Kamen can wear his black tuxedo, and you can all have dresses matching your colors, and it'll be so—romantic—GEE!" The Moon Princess could barely contain her giddiness.
"Dibs on carrying Mina off the boat to safety," Rei laughed as she finished her drink. As their conversation turned to lighter things, the Senshi of Fire grimaced as she thought about how dangerous it would be, climbing on that boat.